Added: 09/22/2006 |
To Lose or Not to Lose - The Scarsdale DietScarsdale, a small town of under 18,000 residents in Westchester County, New York could easily have become a household name simply by virtue of the list of celebrities that herald from the village. It was the murder of best selling diet author Dr. Herman Tarnower by his lover Jean Harris that eventually put Scarsdale on the map.
For a town of under 18,000 residents to be known nationwide, it requires something of note, controversy or an infamous murder. The fact that Aaron Brown (former CNN host), Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets, Gambino crime family capo Gregory DiPalma, photographer Linda (Eastman) McCartney (deceased wife of Beatle Paul McCartney and heiress to the Eastman Kodak fortune), Cardinal, Pirate, Cub, Giant and then broadcaster Joe Garagiola, alleged Soviet spy Robert Hanssen, astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, composer and write Rupert Holmes, Liza Minnelli (no more need be said), Yoko Ono (another former Beatle wife), gangster Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel, West Wing Creator Aaron Sorkin, NBA Commissioner David Stern, and seventh Vice President of the United States Daniel Tompkins all hailed from Scarsdale, confounds the idea that it took an infamous murder to earn the town its rightful place as a hamlet of celebrity.
The Scarsdale Diet’s premise is to divide carbohydrates, protein and fats into a percentage format of 34%, 43% and 23% respectively. Pre-planned meals consisted of the obligatory half grapefruit, protein bread and coffee or tea for breakfast; certain restricted meats menus for lunch and seafood or animal proteins for dinner. Lowered calorie counts are usually credited for weight loss, which somewhat conflicts with this diet. Because it is high in protein, a follower could very easily consume high levels of unwanted fats.
Like any diet that earns repute and fame, it remains the responsibility of the dieter to maintain a personal discipline to the diet and its instructions. Whether it is Weight Watchers, Atkins, Sonoma or any number of diets marketed to a receptive (and overweight) public, they only work if the dieter follows explicit directions and affects the necessary lifestyle changes to maintain the weight loss.
The Scarsdale Diet demands strict obedience for two weeks and promises and average seven to fifteen pound weight loss during that period. During the subsequent two weeks, the dieter is left to determine his or her food intake, within certain parameters and food choices. The next two weeks (week five and week six) require the dieter to return to the Scarsdale Diet, followed by another two weeks of dieter controlled diet and then back to the Scarsdale Diet. This process of two weeks on, two weeks off is followed until the dieter’s goal is achieved. Once the dieter realizes his or her goal, the dieter is instructed to follow the “Lifetime Keep-Slim Program” in order to maintain the desired weight.
Though a 1970’s diet plan that has been superseded by more contemporary plans and advanced medical science, the Scarsdale Diet remains a notable favorite.
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